Victoria Adukwei Bulley’s Quiet engages with the ordinary and extra-ordinary lives of black women in ways that are life-enhancing but which also doesn’t duck the tragedies of discrimination and social injustices. In seeking an imaginative sanctum that isn’t hostage to how black people are violated, othered or marginalised, Quiet undertakes a difficult balancing act.
Amongst other dedications in Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz singles out bodies—’towards our many bodies of flesh, language, land and water.’ Bodies are critical because they are primary symbols of the self and constants in our equations with others; whether it is love or war – these bodies form tribute and legacies, weapons and Read More
Tourists visit St Andrews for three main reasons; it’s the home of golf, the grounds of the renowned University where Prince Harry met Kate, and the StAnza international poetry festival in March, which bring poetry paramours to St Andrews’ historical streets. I reviewed Mary Jean Chan’s debut pamphlet, a hurry of english, some time ago Read More
Art imitates life, they say, and it’s impossible to read John Lanchester’s latest novel, The Wall, without making comparisons to current political situations. Such a trifecta for a dystopian novel – a wall, migrants, climate change – seems almost too predictable, and Lanchester uses it with mixed success. The novel shows a future where ‘The Read More
When a new poetry collection has gained as much accolade as this second collection by Ishion Hutchinson, we can assume it’s something special. The title seems to refer to both highs and lows in his own life, high and low cultures, from the mythology of the Greeks to the Jamaican classroom of his childhood, and Read More
Nick Laird’s fourth book of poetry, Feel Free, is a cleverly arranged three-part collection exploring the two words of the title: what it is like to feel and the nature of being free, if indeed freedom exists at all. The poems cover a huge range, from metaphysical notions of justice and the meaning of existence, Read More
Since the release of his poetry collection in 2014, Zaffar Kunial has been known for his exploration and experiment with language. His Anglo-Indian heritage means he can draw inspiration from both English and Urdu. Us has been praised, among many things, for a melding of languages and for Kunial’s flair for storytelling. Poetry, and indeed Read More
A novel’s first line is crucial. George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) begins, “It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Donna Tartt’s The Secret History (1992) begins, “The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of Read More
Richard Scott’s first collection, Soho, is an uncompromising portrayal of life as a queer man, in a modern queer community. Intense and intimate, the collection is split into four parts, each focusing on a different aspect of Scott’s queer experience: violence, love, shame and community – though elements of each of these themes run through Read More
